Spider-Man (1994 TV series)
Spider-Man, also known as Spider-Man: The Animated Series (Spider-Man TAS for short), is an American animated television series based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. The show ran on the Fox Kids Network from November 19, 1994, to January 31, 1998, and ran reruns on the Jetix block on Toon Disney and on Disney XD. The producer/story editor was John Semper Jr. and the production company was Marvel Films Animation. Synopsis List of Spider-Man (1994 TV series) episodesList of Spider-Man (1994 TV series) episodesList of Spider-Man (1994 TV series) episodesList of Spider-Man (1994 TV series) episodesList of Spider-Man (1994 TV series) episodesThe series focuses on Spider-Man and his alter ego Peter Parker during his college years at Empire State University. As the story begins, Peter has already gained his superpowers and is a part-time freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle. The show features most of Spider-Man's classic villains, including the Kingpin, the Green Goblin, the Lizard, the Shocker, Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, the Scorpion, Rhino, the Vulture and Venom. Over the course of the series the single Peter contends with the romantic love interests of Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, Felicia Hardy and her alter ego, the Black Cat. The show also features appearances from various other Marvel superheroes; including the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, War Machine, Daredevil, Blade, Doctor Strange, the Punisher and Captain America. Adaptations A large number of storylines and events from the comics are loosely adapted in the series, such as: Episodes Main Article: Episode List (Spider-Man (1994 TV series)) Cast and characters Main article: List of Spider-Man (1994 TV series) characters Main voice cast * Christopher Daniel Barnes – Peter Parker / Spider-Man * Ed Asner – J. Jonah Jameson * Jennifer Hale – Felicia Hardy / Black Cat * Sara Ballantine (credited as Saratoga Ballantine) – Mary Jane Watson * Roscoe Lee Browne – Wilson Fisk / Kingpin * Linda Gary / Julie Bennett – Aunt May Parker * Gary Imhoff – Harry Osborn / Green Goblin II * Rodney Saulsberry – Joseph "Robbie" Robertson * Mark Hamill – Jason Macendale / Hobgoblin * Hank Azaria – Eddie Brock / Venom Production While Marvel's X-Men animated series was being produced by Saban, Spider-Man was produced by the newly formed Marvel Films Animation; it was the only series that in-house studio produced, but was animated by TMS-Kyokuchi Corporation,4 and Koko Enterprises Ltd.. Anima Sam Won and Seoul Movie did additional animation for this series (though they were uncredited). For many years, the series was the second longest-running Marvel show created, after X-Men, as well as the longest-running series based on Spider-Man (until Ultimate Spider-Man surpassed its record in 2015). In some episodes, realistic guns were depicted, but only in flashbacks, such as the showing of guns being fired during a flashback about the Punisher's origins where his wife was killed in the crossfire during a crime. In November 2014 podcasts, Semper clarified that the show was not censored more than any other show at the time and that every time this has been brought up to him, he feels it has been blown out of proportion;5 Semper said that Marvel had no creative control on the TV series because Marvel at the time was in a tough time and close to bankruptcy. In addition, Semper stated that Stan Lee had influence on the show in the first thirteen episodes. The series is currently owned and distributed by The Walt Disney Company (Marvel's parent company), which acquired all Fox Kids-related properties from News Corporation and Saban International in 2001. Writing staff Producer John Semper was the primary credited writer on the show, receiving some sort of writing credit (usually a story, co-story or co-writing credit) on 60 of the 65 produced episodes. He wrote 8 episodes solo; many of his story credits were actually adaptations of previously published comic book stories. Mark Hoffmeier was a frequent contributor, receiving credits on 16 episodes, while Stan Berkowitz was credited on 9. Many of the other series writers had previously worked on Batman: The Animated Series, including Brynne Stephens, Marv Wolfman, Gerry Conway, Marty Isenberg and Robert N. Skir, Len Wein, and Sean Catherine Derek. Animation To reproduce New York City's appearance, background illustrators undertook a large amount of visual research by using photo archives from above New York, particularly rooftops. Maps were consulted for references and buildings were faithfully reproduced. It has been reported that the animation cels depicting Manhattan's Pan Am Building (recently renamed the MetLife Building) were scrapped after being complete because the California-based art staff learned the Midtown landmark had been given a new sign more than a year earlier. The animation staff were directed to populate the city with cars and crowds on the street level. Semper believed that was one of the limitations of earlier Spider-Man animated projects. Originally, Marvel Films planned to make the backgrounds completely CGI while Spider-Man 'webslinged' around New York, yet due to budget constraints were forced to use traditional cel based animation while occasionally using CGI backgrounds by Kronos Digital Entertainment. As well, reuse of animation became more common as the series progressed, which also included reuse of animation involving a character speaking (these scenes were sometimes slowed down in order to better match the actor's voice to the animation). Music Marvel outsourced the show's music to distributors Saban Entertainment, who were also responsible for the music in the concurrent X-Men cartoon airing on Fox Kids. The theme for the series was performed by Joe Perry of the hard rock band Aerosmith, although the song was written by Shuki Levy. Levy, Kussa Mahchi and Udi Harpaz are credited as composers of the orchestral background score. Reception The series was both acclaimed and commercially successful, receiving wide critical praise for its portrayal of many different storylines from the comics. It also garnered exceptionally high ratings for a Saturday morning cartoon and shortly after its premiere was the highest rated and most popular children's television show in America.[citation needed] Its cancellation after 65 episodes was due to disagreements between executive producer Avi Arad and network head Margaret Loesch that forced the show to be cancelled.[citation needed] Awards Writer / Producer John Semper Jr. won an Annie Award in 1995 for Best Individual Achievement for Writing in the Field of Animation for the episode "Day of the Chameleon". Spider-Man was also nominated for one 1996 Image Award for Outstanding Animated/Live-Action/Dramatic Youth or Children's Series/Special.6 Merchandising Three comic book series based on the TV series were produced: * Spider-Man Adventures (December 1994 to February 1996):7 the first 13 issues each adapted one episode from the first season, and the last two issues were original stories. Spider-Man Adventures #1–4 was later reprinted in Kellogg's Froot Loops Mini-Comics #1–4.8 * Adventures of Spider-Man (April 1996 to March 1997): featuring new stories based on the series.9 Adventures of Spider-Man was later reprinted in Spectacular Spider-Man (UK Magazine) #11–21 from August 1996 to May 1997.10 * Marvel Adventures (April 1997 to September 1998):11 anthology featuring various animated versions of Marvel characters—Spider-Man only appeared sporadically. A number of video games based on the series were also produced: * Spider-Man Cartoon Maker for the PC * Spider-Man Animated Series for the Super NES and Genesis Electronic versions of classic Spider-Man comics were released by Marvel that included narration by Christopher Daniel Barnes and featured animation and theme music from this series. Spider-Man novels inspired by selected episodes were also released. A wide variety of themed merchandise (lunch boxes, cereals, clothing, etc.) was produced. McDonald's produced a themed line of Happy Meal toys for the show. However, this paled in comparison to the extensive official toy line that ran over eight series, and included a staggering amount of play sets and vehicles and actually lasted longer than the television series itself. Release availabilityedit Despite the fact that the show ended in 1998, the success of the live-action Spider-Man films have sparked more interest in new fans, allowing the series to air in reruns due to its new owners: The Walt Disney Company. Home media Region 1 During the series' run, some episodes were released on VHS. These were from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. In the late 1990s, another selection of VHS compilations were released by Marvel Films/New World Entertainment (these tapes were distributed in Canada by Telegenic Entertainment). These releases featured episodes edited into 70-80, 90-100 minute movies based on the particular story arc. To date, the only VHS and DVD releases of the series in the U.S. have been several volume sets from Buena Vista Home Entertainment that feature 4-5 episodes each. Region 2 In the UK, Sweden, and Germany, Clear Vision Ltd. has released all five seasons on DVD as of October 19, 2009. Other releases * A Canadian DVD containing three episodes from the "Mutant Agenda" episodes. This is a reissue of the 1997 Marvel-New World/Telegenic VHS release (and it was mastered from one of those VHS releases); as a "Bonus" two episodes from the 1990s Iron Man TV series are included, just like on the VHS release. (Please note there are no audio/subtitle selections.) * Canadians also received another DVD release of the first season two-parter "The Hobgoblin". This was a re-release of a 2002 VHS release by Disney; the video quality of the episodes on the DVD is that of a VHS transfer. There are no bonus features or audio/subtitle selections on this DVD either. * A VCD release by Magnavision Home Video. * A boxed set of all the DVDs released in Poland, simply entitled "Spider-Man: 5 DVD Set". The front of the box features the same graphics as "The Ultimate Villain Showdown". * Several two-episode DVDs released by Marvel in 2002 prior to the acquisition by Disney. * 3 DVDs with 2 episodes each were released regionally for Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia with Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian dubs on them in 2005. * The entire first season is available on Xbox Live and iTunes through Disney XD. All five seasons are also currently available for digital purchase on Vudu. * The entire series is currently available on Hulu Plus and Amazon Video. * There were also unlicensed DVDs that had The Adventure Continues on them that contained two episodes from most of the movies that were released by Marvel Films/New World Entertainment. For example, one was Spider-Man - Blade the Vampire Hunter which contained two episodes which were "Blade, the Vampire Hunter" and "The Immortal Vampire", a two-part story episode from the second season, making it like a movie based on the toy line, Spider-Man: Vampire Wars. Bootleg DVDs of the show have become popular among fans due to a lack of official DVD releases. The bootlegs feature all of the episodes but some of them have low video quality and watermarks. This is likely to change as the entire series becomes available in the UK. The series is currently the 9th most wanted unreleased DVD at TVShowsOnDVD.com.38 Spiritual successor On November 1, 2014 at the Comikaze Expo, where the show's 20th anniversary was celebrated, John Semper Jr. revealed that much of the cast and crew of Spider-Man, himself included, had agreed to reunite for a new crowdfunded series entitled "War of the Rocket Men".39404142 In addition, in late 2014, Semper Jr started a website (cartoonspiderman.com) that features behind-the-scenes content, podcasts about the show, a link to the Facebook page that Semper regularly posts on and more. On April 16, 2016, Semper's YouTube account posted a video in which he revealed that he had written a short story following up on the series, detailing Peter finding Mary Jane, referring to the story as "an autobiographical fan-fiction" in which he reminisced on what it was like writing the last episodes of the series, as well as detailing how Peter and Mary Jane would have been reunited, adding one could think of it as "the lost episode of Spider-Man: The Animated Series". Semper explained that he would be releasing this as a perk on a crowd-funding campaign for War of the Rocket Men. The video also featured the returning voices of Christopher Daniel Barnes and Sara Ballantine as Spider-Man/Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson respectively in an audio promo prologue entitled "Peter Finds Mary Jane".